We have arrived

We have arrived! It is our first day in Costa Rica, and I still can't believe that we are here. There was so much involved in getting here, from applying to school to figuring out how to pay for it to sorting out the immigration documents (which are still being sorted), it seemed like actually arriving might never happen. In fact, it felt that way yesterday as we ran around LA trying to do last-minute immigration errands. But we are here, and it feels wonderful!

We arrived at 5:30 in the morning. The landlady had given me directions to the apartment, which I gave to the taxi driver, who had no idea how to get there. I knew she would be waiting for us, and when I saw a pregnant lady on the street (I also knew she is 9 months pregnant) I thought "Oh, maybe that's her..." and it was. She quickly showed us to the apartment, and went off to the hospital for an appointment, which turned into contractions. She is possibly giving birth right now.

We were greeted by a couple, Harry and Annie, who own an apartment building across the street. Harry is American and Annie is from the Dominican Republic. They gave us some toast, coffee and friendly conversation.

Ciudad Colon is cute. More of a pueblito than a ciudad, but it has everything we could need, and is quiet and relaxed. The scenery is beautiful - coffee plantations, forest, mountains, exotic birds, butterflies. There is a mango tree outside our room, which occasionally drops fruit onto the metal garage roof, which sounds like the place is being bombed. "Oh, it's just a mango falling..."

It had been a long time since I had to wash my pasta or rice. In Niger I always had to do it because bugs - weevils, I believe - would infest food occasionally, putting a damper on lunch. Tonight's pasta was full of them, resulting in us going to the store to buy another bag (of spaghetti rather than macaroni, which seemed to provide a cozy home for the little suckers).

It has been raining a lot, off and on. It will drizzle, to let you know the big one is coming, then the sky opens up and pours for a few minutes, then it stops. It repeated this all afternoon. The temperature is comfortable, and if you get stuck in the rain, you just have to duck for cover, knowing that it will clear up in a few minutes.

Well, this is my first attempt at a blog entry. My plane flight is catching up to me and I must go to bed before the mosquitos get the better of me!